A Psychological Component in the Etiology of Geographic Tongue

Prevalence and risk factors associated with geographic tongue among US adults

“…Reports have associated GT with stress (Redman et al , 1965). While NHANES III did not have physiologic measures of stress such as serum cortisol levels, or questions directly addressing stress, the DIS provided an opportunity to explore association between GT and depression, arguably a stressful condition.…”

“…While GT is generally painless, a minority of individuals exhibit discomfort ranging from sensitivity to cigarette smoke, spicy foods, and fruit (Hume, 1975). For others, even painless GT lesions are a source of anxiety (Redman et al , 1965).…”

“…Reports of GT prevalence among adults range from 0.28% to 2.4% (Hume, 1975), with most falling between 1.0% and 2.5% (Assimakopoulos et al , 2002). Many risk factors have been proposed for GT: hormonal disturbances and oral contraceptive use (Waltimo, 1991); psychological findings (Redman et al , 1965); diabetes mellitus (Wysocki and Daley, 1987) – although Guggenheimer et al (2000) found no difference; allergic conditions such as atopy (Marks and Simons, 1979) hay fever and rhinitis (Marks and Czarny, 1984); dermatological diseases such as pustular psoriasis (Wysocki and Daley, 1987); seborrheic dermatitis (Rahminoff and Muhsam, 1957), pityriasis pilaris (Wysocki and Daley, 1987); and Reiter's Syndrome (O'Keefe et al , 1973; Weathers et al , 1974; Pogrel and Cram, 1988). There is also a reported correlation with Down Syndrome (Ercis et al , 1996) and fissured tongue (FT) (Eidelman et al , 1976).…”

Investigation of functional gene polymorphisms: IL‐1B, IL‐6 and TNFA in benign migratory glossitis in Brazilian individuals

“…Some reports in the literature indicate that BMG may relate to hormonal disturbances (6), psychological findings (7) and diabetes mellitus (8). BMG is more prevalent in patients who have a tendency to develop immunological diseases (9–12).…”

Geographic Tongue: Clinical Characteristics of 188 Cases

“…26 Attempts have been made to demonstrate an association between geographic tongue and various systemic and/or psychological conditions. These conditions include gastrointestinal disorders associated with anemia 17 , Reiter's syndrome 27 , psoriasis 27,28 , emotional stress 29 , allergies 30,31 , diabetes 32 , and hormonal disturbances. 33 However, a definitive causal relationship has not yet been established.…”